Patent NZ-554923-A (NZ)
Title: Apparatus for controlling standby power
Inventor: LEE JEONG-SOO
IPC: G06F1/32
Filed: 2004-12-31
Abstract: A standby power control apparatus (100) for use in a power control device for controlling a power-supply voltage of a computer system including a computer (10) and a monitor (20), and controlling power-supply voltages of peripheral devices (30), is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a power-supply unit (110) for converting a commercial power source to a DC power supply voltage requisite for the system, and providing individual components with necessary power-supply voltages; an interface unit (120) being connected to the computer via a communication line, and interfacing a signal transmitted from the computer; an Input/Output (I/O) (130) terminal unit being connected to a mouse (11) and a keyboard (12) of the computer, and transmitting input signals received from the mouse and the keyboard to a microprocessor (170); a switching unit (140) for connecting a plurality of switches (141) to a plurality of sockets (101) having addresses designated respectively to the above peripheral devices, respectively switching the switches according to an external control signal, and recovering or blocking power-supply voltages applied to the sockets; an individual load detector (150) for receiving power-supply state information from the switching unit, and detecting load information of the peripheral device on the basis of the received power-supply state information; a sensor (160) being mounted to one side of the computer or the monitor, and determining the presence or absence of a user; a microprocessor (170) for receiving a first input signal from the computer via the interface unit, a second input signal from the mouse and the keyboard via the I/O terminal unit, and a third input signal from the individual load detector and the sensor, switching the switching unit according to the received first to third input signals, and controlling a power-supply voltage generated from the sockets; an individual drive signal generator (180) for receiving a control command signal from the microprocessor, and generating a drive signal to switch on or off the switches of the switching unit; and a monitoring/management unit (190), transmitting a power-supply control command signal to the microprocessor via the interface unit including address information of the peripheral devices, and being installed in the computer in the form of an application program, such that it provides the user with a variety of administrator setup menus to allow the user to control overall operations of the system using the administrator setup menus. When the user enters a power control command the monitoring/management unit transmits a first power-supply control command, a second power-supply control command, a third power-supply control command, or a fourth power supply control command. The first power-supply control command selectively or simultaneously blocks power-supply voltages of the peripheral device when the user enters a power-supply blocking command of the peripheral device. The second power-supply control command blocks a power supply voltage from being applied to a corresponding peripheral device on the condition that used state information of the peripheral device is recognized in real time and the corresponding peripheral device is in an idle state during a predetermined period. The third power-supply control command blocks a power-supply voltage from being applied to a corresponding peripheral device when the user manually powers off the corresponding peripheral device. The fourth power-supply control command simultaneously blocks power-supply voltages of the peripheral device if an input signal is not received from the mouse or the keyboard during at least a predetermined time, or selectively blocks only power-supply voltages of unused peripheral devices other than the used peripheral device. When the user enters a power recovery command, the monitoring/management unit transmits the first power-supply control command to selectively or simultaneously recover power-supply voltages of the peripheral device when the user enters a power recovery command of the peripheral device; the monitoring/management unit transmits the second power-supply control command such that it recognizes used state information of the peripheral device in real time, determines whether a specific peripheral device is used, and recovers a power-supply voltage applied to the specific peripheral device; the monitoring/management unit transmits the third power-supply control command such that it determines whether an input signal is generated from the mouse or the keyboard, recovers a power-supply voltage of the peripheral device according to the determined result.